Barcelona Startup Scene Rising Above Economic Crisis

While dire circumstances face the Spanish economy during the second Eurozone recession of the last three years, there has been little cause for hope as far as employment goes. Spain currently has the highest unemployment rate out of all industrialized nations, but there is a shining light emanating from Barcelona, where the startup scene is flourishing.

Barcelona, Spain — Joblessness has affected much of Spain with a rise to almost 26% unemployment. Tourism has been one of the only industries still managing to hold it’s own and provide a degree of economic relief, but recent developments in the startup scene have also uncovered a beacon of hope.

Regardless, Barcelona is seeing some substantial growth in startup businesses, while investors are putting their money back into the city that’s hosting a number of events and conferences surrounding these developments. Barcelona Activa, ESADE, IESE are three prominent drivers of innovation in the city, standing behind entrepreneurship within the burgeoning expat community.

Bob Samii and Luke Miller – both connected with ESADE via their MBA studies – have set about creating even more opportunity in Barcelona, by successfully launching JobFluent – a website for jobseekers and hiring tech startups, that allows them the chance to network and exchange skills for promising career paths.

The website is very much focused on startups within the tech industry and has a stringent approval process for jobs posted on the site. Operating predominantly within Barcelona, JobFluent is tapping into the startup community – a thriving niche that holds much promise for the city, its inhabitants and the country of Spain as a whole. With plans to expand into other European countries in the near future, this could be the change of pace that is needed.

Bob Samii, who is a marketing director at Spain’s largest ecommerce company, eDreams, and owner of creative agency, inMotion, is involved with several startups in and around Barcelona. “Both Luke and I regularly receive a few emails a month from friends in startups that are looking to hire talent and often can’t find the right candidates from the bigger job boards. Add a flourishing startup community in Barcelona and other European tech hubs, and that’s where the idea of JobFluent started taking shape.”

Luke is the co-founder of Offset Options, an environmental data provider for travel and large events. Their portfolio includes the largest tour in world history – the LiveNation U2 360 tour. He is also involved with a few startups in Barcelona and London, as well working with other Barcelona founders in holding regular events that bring the Barcelona Tech founder community closer together.

With their combined skills and shared vision, it seems that JobFluent has the potential to reach aspirational heights – for them, the job seekers and startup companies involved. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

Visit www.jobfluent.com for more information on JobFluent or contact on email info [at] jobfluent.com.

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